for fake

English

Etymology

By analogy with for real.

Prepositional phrase

for fake

1. (humorous) Not for real.

   Antonym: for real

   • 1990, Beverley Gasner, Girls at Lighthouse Point, Dutton, →ISBN, page 161,

     “ […] and Justin just kept mumbling to him, ‘Go away, go away, I want to sleep.’”

     “For real?”

     “For fake is what I think. But I don’t know […] ”

   • 2001, Niobia Bryant, Three Times a Lady, Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 283,

     “True,” Jordan said as he switched lanes effortlessly. “We’re staying in a renovated Victorian castle sitting on the edge of a lake.”

     “For real?” he asked, some interest now evident.

     “No, for fake,” Jordan joked. “Trust me, son. We’re gonna have fun.”

   • 2004, Debbie Gardner and Mike Gardner, Raising Kids Who Can Protect Themselves, McGraw-Hill Professional, →ISBN, page 64,

     Sometimes, young children have learned they can delay their bedtime by creating false monsters and ghosts for attention. […] What the child learns besides delaying bedtime is, “It feels good to hide my eyes, get a big hug and lots of loving attention when I am afraid for real and for fake.”

   • 2006, John Lawton, A Little White Death, Atlantic Monthly Press, →ISBN, page 97,

     Head nodding gently, knees crossed, all but tapping his foot to the human rhythm as though the groans and moans of coitus – for real or for fake – were more a concert on the Third Programme than a Home Servicing.

Anagrams

• rake off, rake-off, rakeoff